Bollywood books its holiday calendar for 2017

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

January 11, 2017 - 11:41 AM IST

Over the last few years, holiday releases have become more important than ever before. Sultan [Eid], Airlift [Republic Day], Rustom [Independence Day], M.S. Dhoni - The Untold Story [Gandhi Jayanti], Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay [Diwali] had at least one major holiday in their first week of release and that helped pump up the collections in a big way. Now that 2017 release calendar is out, each of the major national holidays of the year has already been reserved by a biggie or two already.

Bollywood books its holiday calendar for 2017

Lohri (January 13) - OK Jaanu and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage
Lohri is the first festival of the year. Since this is also a Friday in 2017, it was a no brainer for Karan Johar and his team to block the date for their romcom affair OK Jaanu. With the film, Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor would like to move on from Fitoor and Rock On 2 respectively. Meanwhile, Vin Diesel and Deepika Padukone's xXx: The Return of Xander Cage has been announced as well for 14th January.

Republic Day (January 26) - Raees and Kaabil (release on January 25)
The biggest, and the only notable clash of 2017 would be between Raees and Kaabil and both films are vying for the long weekend that would kick-start with Republic Day holiday on Thursday. Both films would end up getting four days to make maximum moolah right at the onset. Since this is a national holiday, expect some major records to be set in these four days with the combined collections really hitting the roof.

Holi (March 13) - Badrinath Ki Dulhania (releases on March 10)
Holi is another major holiday in many parts of the country and what better way to celebrate it than arrive with a colourful flick, Badrinath Ki Dulhania. The film gains a good four day long weekend as Holi falls on Monday. That would give this Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt starrer some good impetus to take forward the weekend fervour right into the weekdays as well. Karan Johar has indeed played this one smart.

Good Friday (April 14) - Bahubali 2: The Conclusion
Talking about Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions, the biggest release for them in 2017 is Bahubali 2: The Conclusion which releases on the holiday of Good Friday. The film is as big as it gets and deserves all the space that it could possibly gain from. No wonder, there isn't any Hindi film releasing on this date as even the dubbed version is so keenly awaited. Finally we would know why did Katappa kill Baahubali!

Eid (June 26) - Tubelight (releases on June 23)
Eid and Salman can well be spoken in the same breath! It would be no different in 2017 either as Salman Khan and Kabir Khan bring Tubelight for the audience. The film releases on June 23 and would be pretty much aiming at smashing records left, right and centre since Eid falls on Monday. If the film is well made and accepted by the audience, the euphoria would be felt right through the weekdays as well.

Raksha Bandhan (August 7) - Bhoomi and Secret Superstar (release on August 4)
In certain parts of the country, Raksha Bandhan is a holiday and due to this both Bhoomi as well as Secret Superstar would be aiming at making the best of it. Though the two films are clashing per se, in terms of content and audience they are entirely different from each other. Also, none is the kind that needs 5000 screens all for itself. Raksha Bandhan falls on Monday and that is an added bonus for both the films.

Janmashtmi (August 14) and Independence Day (August 15) – Shah Rukh-Imtiaz-Anushka's next (releases on August 11)
One of the best weekends in 2017 is the one that falls around Janmashtmi (Monday) and Independence Day (Tuesday). That lends any new Friday release a good weekend of 5 days. No wonder, Shah Rukh Khan is aiming for that slot and his next yet untitled film with Imtiaz Ali and Anushka Sharma has announced its arrival for this date. It has to be seen if the film arrives solo or another film steps into the 'ring' as well!

Ganesh Chaturthi (August 25) - Reloaded
Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez have booked Ganesh Chaturthi holiday for the release of their Reloaded. In a way they are lucky so far that no other major film is eyeing for this date as yet. While the action entertainer would find an audience amongst the youth, chances are that some other filmmaker may grab this date as well. A clash is imminent for a good release date like this.

Bakri Eid (September 2) - Baadshaho (releases on September 1)
Ajay Devgn has booked his slot early in the holiday season by announcing Baadshaho for Bakri Eid. The holiday falls on Saturday and that would give the Milan Luthria directed film some good momentum right into the weekend. With Emraan Hashmi joining hands with the team again after Once Upon a Time In Mumbaai, there is good hype already building around Baadshaho which is slated to be a true 'masala' entertainer.

Dusshehra (September 30) and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) - Judwaa 2 (releases on September 29)
With Varun Dhawan stepping into a double role and David Dhawan pairing up with Sajid Nadiadwala yet again 20 years after Judwaa, one expects nothing less than double the fun. No wonder, the date chosen has been fantastic too as Saturday [Dusshehra] and Monday [Gandhi Jayanti] are major holidays in the offering. That gives the film a weekend of almost 5 days which would be good enough to be leveraged!

Diwali (October 19 - Thursday) - 2.0
In 2017, Diwali is falling on a perfect day, Thursday. Now that gives the film a good weekend of four days as post-Diwali days are super-fantastic for Bollywood releases, as was evidenced this year too with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay, both of which did their best business on the day after Diwali. This is the reason why Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar have already booked their slot for Diwali. Expect firecrackers galore.

Christmas (December 25) - Tiger Zinda Hai (releases on December 21)
Though the season of Christmas is synonymous with Aamir Khan, 2017 would be an exception as the holiday season has been reserved by Salman Khan instead. His Tiger Zinda Hai arrives on Christmas and the film has a lot to gain since it would be enjoying an excellent weekend of 5 days. Moreover, the holiday season continues right into the New Year and hence Ali Abbas Zafar's sequel to Ek Tha Tiger has all to gain.